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Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time
---Nik was a bit dazed after class ended. He'd been bored for a while now, stuck listening to lectures he didn't really care about. What was the point, anyway? It wasn't like he needed the instruction, he studied hard on his own without caring in the least about class and it had always served him well. Whatever, at least it was over with now. Yawning, Nik wandered out through the courtyard, intending to just head back to the Obelisk dorm. As he yawned and stretched, his eyes closed, and he accidentally bumped into someone. "Oops, I'm sorry. My bad. Shoulda watched where I was going."---- Ryoko, who was also leaving a class of his own, accidentally bumped into someone. "Ah! I'm so sorry!" he waved his hands in front of him, in an attempt to apologize, but it only seemed to come out as unneeded apologizing. After he stopped apologizing, and bowing at the stranger, Ryoko stood straight up again. He scratched the back of his head. "I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry about that. I hope I didn't hurt you in any way," Ryoko closed his eyes and grinned at the guy. ---- "Nah, it's fine. Hey...I saw your duel, your entrance exam. It stood out to me because you dueled the Dark Magician examiner, and I happen to also play Dark Magician." Indeed, as the words left Nik's mouth, he felt a hand on his shoulder. As if by instinct, he knew immediately that it was the spirit of the Dark Magician, his companion. "Nikola, I believe I sense something in this one," Dark Magician stated calmly, his hand leaving Nik's shoulder. "Potential. Maybe you could bring out the best in him as a duelist if you challenge him." Nik studied the Slifer student in front him. Really...? Well, he wasn't sure, but he'd learned to trust Dark Magician's judgment. "Speaking of. How would you like to have a chance at redeeming yourself against the Dark Magician?" ---- "Woah! You're already asking me to duel?!" Ryoko was surprised at the blunt attitude this guy had. He was really into whatever he wanted to say. "I didn't even introduce myself! I don't even know you either," Ryoko said, scratching the side of his face with his finger, looking away. "I'm Ryoko Tokei, by the way. I'm new here. I'll accept your duel if you want me to." ---- He grinned, running his hand through his midnight black hair. "I apologize, my name is Nikola Ruzicka. We Czechs aren't keen on wasting time, so you, so many of us have a habit of getting straight to the point." Nik reached into his backpack and pulled out his Duel Disk, fastening it to his wrist. At this point, other students passing by stopped to watch. Well, he supposed it was fine, but he preferred to duel without an audience. "I'll let you go first," he offered, drawing his five card opening hand. ---- Ryoko quickly prepared his duel disk. He really wasn't expecting to duel today, especially after he made himself a new deck. "Well, it looks like it's the premiere of this new deck, let's see how it does!" Ryoko drew his five cards, and then looked at his hand. "I'll summon a monster in defense position for my first move," Ryoko summoned his card and then activated a card from his hand. "I'll then use , and place one card down on the field. That's the end of my turn." ---- The crowd was really gathering now. He supposed that meant it was time to really put on a magic show. "Alright, very well. I play Dark Magical Library and add the Spell Card Spellcaster Call to my hand, which I'll now activate. To satisfy its cost, I will discard Emerald Magician Girl to the Graveyard, and add Dark Iris Magician and Dark Apprentice Sorceress to my hand. I will set the extra Emerald Magician Girl in my hand and Dark Apprentice Sorceress into the Pendulum Zones now, and I will activate Emerald Magician Girl's special effect, discarding Magician Voyage to add to my hand , which I'll now play! I Pendulum Summon the Dark Iris Magician now!" Dark Magician huffed behind Nik, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow. You always get so annoyed when I don't summon you, Nik thought. "With Dark Magical Circle, I banish your facedown monster. I play next, adding Dark Magical Citadel to my hand, which I now activate, and I believe I'll add Dark Magic Unleashed to my hand, which I play now! I'll summon two copies of my Chaos Magician Girl, and use their effects to summon the third, as well as the Emerald Magician Girl in my grave! Two of the Chaos Magician Girls will have their levels set at 6, allowing me to overlay them and Xyz Summon Umbra Illusion Magician Girl. The other Chaos Magician Girl and Emerald Magician Girl will be set at level 7, and I'll use them to Xyz Summon Umbra Illusion Magician. I'll detach a material from Umbra Illusion Magician to add to my hand, and I'll set it facedown now. I'll detach another material from Umbra Illusion Magician Girl to add another Magician Voyage to my hand, which I'll set down." He surveyed the field, his trio of powerful Spellcasters standing firm. "Alright, now, my Magicians! Attack directly!" ----Ryoko watched helplessly as his monster was banished, and then these two monsters were brought out onto the field. He wasn't sure what he could do but watch as he lost his life points. And even then, if and whenever his turn came, he wouldn't be able to do anything. His opponent has completely stopped Ryoko from continuing on any strategies he might've planned. "This is..." Ryoko gulped. "This is the true power of Duel Academy..." he said under his breath. "Everyone here is so strong... How could I keep up with them?"---- Dark Iris Magician was the last of the magical trio to attack, whittling Ryoko's Life Points down to zero. Right before the attack, however, he heard the other boy's words to himself, just barely. "For starters," Nik began, shuffling all of cards back into his deck and deactivating the Duel Disk, "just keep reminding yourself that you're here with all of us for a reason." The rest of the students began to disperse, going about their business. ---- Ryoko fell to the ground on his hands and knees. Was he really here for a reason? His exam was a complete failure, yet they let him inside the academy. He faced Casey, and she crushed him, despite being so nice to him. Then there was this guy. Three turns in total. That's all it took for him to completely make Ryoko seem like he was an amateur. "You say that, but... Is that really true? All I've done is lose, lose, lose. I made this deck so that I could try and win, but even with that... I still lose." ---- Nik was caught off guard by the boy, Ryoko, and his reaction. Stunned for a moment, Dark Magician drew next to Nik's side. "I think you should say something," the wizard advised. "You're not the kind of person to leave this kid upset, are you?" No, he wasn't. Dark Magician knew him too well, the insightful bastard. His companion was correct, though. "Hey, listen. It's alright, Ryoko. You can't show up and expect to immediately have success, it takes time to develop your skills and really build a tough deck. I wasn't that great when I first showed up, either. In fact... I think I understand your pain, because when I got here, the first person I dueled is a guy that's now the school's top duelist. He destroyed me, and I almost gave up playing Dark Magician because of it. I did my best to shake it off, though, and he and I are close friends now." ---- Ryoko continued to look at the ground, but he heard what Nikola was telling him. Ryoko's body trembled. "H-how can I learn my own decks when they can't make it past the single digit turns?" he punched the ground, hurting his hand. "Tch... I wanted to become stronger here, but I am not making any sort of progress. It feels like I became weaker. And even then... If I haven't shown any progress when she makes it here, what will that say about me? I can't..." Ryoko inhaled sharply. "I can't keep being in her shadow. I have to get better," Ryoko changed his position to a bowing one instead. "Please! Teach me!" tears slowly began to form on Ryoko's eyes, albeit from his angle, no one could really tell. ---- Unsure of how to respond to Ryoko's gutturally emotional reaction, Nik settled on sitting down in the grass next to the boy. "I'll be happy to teach you anything you want," he replied carefully, studying Ryoko with interest. "However, I need to know the full situation. Whose shadow are you in? I can't help you improve if I don't know what's holding you back internally." ---- Ryoko froze. Did he... really accept Ryoko's request? Ryoko looked towards Nikola, who was sitting next to him. "You... Accept?" Ryoko fall backwards. Some part of him felt relieved. Another part was worried for what was to come from this. Ryoko replied slowly, trying to compose himself. "It's my twin sister," Ryoko gulped. "She and I grew up learning about cards by our parents until we were able to work by ourselves," he held his legs with his arms, putting his face in between them. "We entered many tournaments, and lost a few in the beginning. Eventually, we changed our strategy a bit, and became undefeated. However, my sister was the one that really saved the team. She kept making my decks, and trying to teach me how some cards work. I learned most of what I know from her. I've even dueled her plenty of times, but she always wins," Ryoko said. "Plenty of times she's told me that I need to improve, and at the rate I'm going, I won't become a professional duelist. So, I wanted to join Duel Academy and get better, so I can show her that I can become better than her, and achieve my dream." ---- Nik listened patiently, and when Ryoko finished, he laid back to stare up at the sky, his arms behind his head. By then, Dark Magician had decided to sit next to him, also listening with intrigue. "You should be able to relate very closely to the boy, Nikola. After all, you have a twin as well." It was annoying how often Dark Magician was right. Perhaps the mage was too astute for his own good. Nik couldn't lie, though; he enjoyed having Dark Magician by his side to provide him counsel, and Dark Magician hadn't steered him wrong yet. "I can definitely sympathize and understand. I have a twin, as well. A brother, Vladimir. We twins are closer than the average siblings, but I guess that makes the sibling rivalry even more intense, huh?" ---- Ryoko perked up for a bit, hearing what Nikola had to say. He smiled at him. "Yeah, you're right. I know she means well, but sometimes it's kind of hard to tell. What's your brother like?" Ryoko asked with interest. ---- "Well, he's...a lot like me. Blunt, serious, yet surprisingly has an underlying goofy side. I'd say he'd more competitive than I am, though. I'm the more relaxed twin," Nik answered. ---- Ryoko listened to what Nikola had to say. It seems like their siblings were similar to each other. "Did you come to this academy to try and surpass him? Or were you doing it because you wanted to follow him? ---- He considered the question for a moment. "I guess a little of both. I didn't want to be apart from him, but I definitely wouldn't mind surpassing him as a duelist. Right now, I'd say we're on about equal terms." ---- Ryoko's eyes opened. He has already caught up to his brother? "It must be nice..." Ryoko slightly chuckled at the thought. Catching up with Miru. That didn't seem like it was possible right now. "How did you get better at all this? It doesn't seem like an easy journey." ---- Nik thought about it for a moment. How did he get better? "Well... The Academy's teachings definitely helped, but the biggest factor was that I dueled against my friends a lot. They're all great duelists. Mikey, the Archfiend master. Shane, who uses Elemental HEROes on a level I've never seen before I met him. Casey, our resident Galaxy duelist. Akhratan, the Blue-Eyes phenom. They've all pushed me in different ways to improve, and that's the real secret of Duel Academy. What you learn in the classroom is only half the equation. Finding friends that spur you on to better yourself, that's the other half. Studying without practice and without heart is worth nothing." ---- An Elemental HERO user? That brought Ryoko back to when he and his sister used to do tag duel tournaments. Maybe he could meet Shane one day and see how he uses the Elemental HEROes. It could be good practice for later. "Casey? I know her," Ryoko smirked at Nik. "I fought her recently at the beach. She was a really nice person that helped me out. I dueled against her and also lost, but she told me to keep my head up," Ryoko looked up at the sky. "I never really thought about using dueling as experience. Where we came from, we were considered prodigies, but that all shattered when I came here," Ryoko chuckled to himself. ---- Oh, Ryoko knew Casey? That was...interesting, and unexpected. Just like the thought of her being nice. Nah, that wasn't too weird, on second thought. Casey was just...difficult. "Hm... Well, prodigy status doesn't mean anything here. Most duelists here are talented. Dedication, relentlessness, and belief in your deck are how you set yourself apart here." ---- Ryoko thought about what Nik said. He wasn't wrong about that. When it comes to dueling, you have to trust within your deck, something Ryoko hasn't really been thinking about lately. He just wanted to win. "Heh... You're right. I have just been making decks to try and be better than everyone. I haven't been connecting with my cards. Not since my Destiny HERO deck back at home, even if I didn't make it. I remember it being so easy to play, even during the hard times. I trusted my cards, and they trusted me..." Ryoko sighed. Has he really lost his way? ---- Something caught his attention. "You used to use Destiny HEROes, eh? Hm... I think at some point, you need to meet my friend Shane, Obelisk Blue's top dog. Only thing is, though...Shane's one of the few people who actually beats me half the time. If I can't go first and get out my field lockdown, he destroys me." Nik was exasperated by it, but it was true. Shane's HEROes were no joke. ---- Ryoko took interest. "You mentioned him before. You said he uses Elemental HEROes, right? My sister uses that archetype too, and she has never lost with that deck of her's, it's almost like she's on a completely different level," Ryoko thought for a moment. Obelisk Blue? That was the highest rank in the academy, isn't it? If Miru ever joined the academy, she would definitely be in that ranking. "How good is he with them? I'd like to see how another person uses the Elemental HEROes." ----